James Harden has become one of the NBA's best players since his trade to the Houston Rockets, but wasn't a clear-cut win at the time for Daryl Morey.

Some believed Harden would not be able to extend his production to superstar minutes when he was 6th Man of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"The Harden trade was about 60-40 in favor of our side at the time," said Morey. "Even we had doubts. You need to prepare yourself to be ready for those opportunities when they come. It's not like anyone's giving away these good players. You have to maneuver your way into them....The notion that people in analytics don't think talent wins is ludicrous."

With Derrick Rose undergoing another surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee, Russell Westbrook has been referenced as a reason for optimism.

Westbrook underwent three surgeries following his torn meniscus suffered during the 2013 NBA Playoffs. Westbrook has inarguably been one of the NBA's best players since the third surgery from December of 2013. Westbrook had a PER of 24.6 while playing all 82 games during the 12-13 season.

PER by Month

November 2013: 16.8

December 2013: 24.7

(third surgery)

February 2014: 24.8

March 2014: 30.9

April 2014: 31.3

Playoffs 2014: 28.6

December 2014: 30.0

January 2015: 19.9

February 2015: 35.0

Rose's production has been consistently down from his MVP levels since returning from a torn ACL.

Kevin Durant will be a free agent in 2016 and Russell Westbrook follows one year later, but the Thunder front office doesn't operate "like, geez, are these guys gonna leave? Are these guys gonna be happy?," a league source said.

Kendrick Perkins was a beloved teammate the Thunder parted ways with at the deadline.

Russell Westbrook said he and Kevin Durant feel no need to be consulted at the trade deadline by the Oklahoma City Thunder front office.

“Not my job,” Westbrook said. “My job is to come out and play. We have a great general manager, great owner and great coach who have done a great job thus far putting this team together. So I’m pretty sure they know what’s best for us.”

Westbrook was asked if Sam Presti ever comes to them to gather their feedback.

“I don’t want to repeat the same answer, so whatever I just said last time use it as that answer,” he said.

The New Orleans Pelicans have completed a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, acquiring Ish Smith, the rights to Latavious Williams, cash considerations and draft considerations. In exchange, Oklahoma City has acquired draft considerations from New Orleans.

Smith, 6-0, 175, appeared in 30 games this season with Oklahoma City, averaging 1.2 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists. Undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2010, Smith has appeared in 221 career games, also suiting up for Phoenix, Orlando, Houston, Milwaukee and Memphis, averaging 2.7 points, 1.9 assists and 1.4 rebounds.